Things are going pretty good here in st. peter's missouri. I just looked on the map and realized I am only 2 hours and 30 min away from Jenessa if she is still in Sedalia. That's crazy.
not too many crazy things happened this week. It was the first week of the transfer and so we got some new missionaries. One of them is Sister Higgins who is from South Jordan. Don't know if she is Jenessa's age or if she knows her?
Also this week with Robyn things are going a little slower. She is difficult to teach because she rambles a lot. Her head injury makes it a little difficult. She wasn't able to come to church this week because she din't feel to great. She is still progressing though.
Its pretty difficult to find interested people by ourselves around this area. Most people are content. We did have some good conversations with some of the younger generation though. On Friday, we ran into a couple of 9th graders, one of them named Nathan. He was asking us a lot of good questions. One of the things he said was "don't you think its dangerous not to just stick with the bible?" He was asking these types of questions because he actually has an open mind and wants to know the truth. WE got his phone number and he gladly accepted a copy of the book of mormon, as well as his friend, who we think whispered to him to give us his MOm's phone number. lame.
This other kid who had an interesting name--Azariah--flagged us down as we were biking past. I thought he was flipping us off, but it was just his other finger telling us to come here. He just wanted to sell us one of his christian Cds he made. He said he had watched the Singles ward movie somehow and thought it was funny. He kept trying to sell us a Cd and said he hadn't sold any all day. We exchanged numbers and told him I'd think about it. i probably will. its only 10 bucks. maybe he will have a better opinoin about mormons if I buy one and then I will try to sell him a book of mormon. just kidding they're priceless.
What else did we do this week? one of the nights was pretty frustrating, but when I got home I had an idea to make what will be called a family history challenge that we will put as an insert into each of the sacrament programs each week. The point of it is to help members realize that they need to do their family history and its not as hard as they think. Its focused mostly on preserving their own family history rather than finding names and dates. I'll try to send an attachment of it. I have come up with several ideas and will give 3 or so suggestions each week to choose from.
One of our favorite families in the ward who feeds us every other week or so is the Timothy's. She is a young mom, and her husband is Gifford Timothy who played on the Clemson football team (before they won the national championship). She proof-read the idea I have and gave some great suggestions for it. I presented the idea to the ward council Sunday and they were all over it. Just got to make a few changes and it should be a great way to get people more involved. i've tried using family history my entire mission as a finding idea, haven't found a lot of success from it yet, but I've been praying to think of something that would work. This will be my last effort probably.
There were some great talks given yesterday in sacrament meeting about Temple work and family history, which is defintely going to help with this idea i have.
The first one I liked was by Sister Kell, who talked about the enthusiasm people had around here when the ST. louis temple was dedicated in 1997. She talked about how we need to be as excited to attend the temple as when it was first opened. We need to rededicate our self to attending the already-dedicated temple. She pointed out that the angel Moroni has not stopped blowing his horn. I never realized that the angel moroni is not just a signal for the second coming when Christ comes again, but it is a signal for all of us members of the church who take the temple for granted to come to the house of the Lord! It was really powerful.
The second talk was by brother Raubach. He did a really great job of explaining salvation for the dead. Concerning baptism for the dead, he said something I really liked about how it isn't unreasonable to perform vicarious work for the dead as some people outside the church might think. Isn't that what Christ did for us when he vicariously did something for us that we could not do ourselves? WE can be savior's on mount zion, and we have been warned that if we do not these baptisms for the dead, then we will be "rejected as a church, thus saith the Lord." He also said that the mortal mind could not come up with something such as the salvation for the dead. It was revelation from God. I really believed that. These talks were timely I think. I am really looking forward when I come home to attend the temple more often and do more family history work. i am also looking forward to still being a missionary.
i've been reading in The Power of Everyday Missionaries book since I heard it was approved. I highly reccomend reading it. I read this this morning about sharing the gospel at work. The author says "because work is where we can most readily meet and engage in conversations about the gospel, Satan is very committed to stop this from happening." He then goes on to explain through a "conversation" that occurs many times every day between members of the Church and the demon who is trying to convince us not to do what is right.
"Wait a minute, I thought to Sharpfork. "What you're telling me isthat when I'm at work, I should not talk to anybody about my beliefs. It isn't politically correct, and people will be offended if I do. Religion must be a private affair. Do i have it right?
"Clay, you're exactly right," Sharpfork responded.
"But jesus Christ wants me to share His gospel with everybody--including those at work!
"OF course he wants this," Sharpfork retorted. "Who wouldn't?"
Well, the problem is this, I complained. "Suppose that I follow your advice, and don't talk to anyone about the gospel at work. For sixty hours each week (five days times twelve hours, including commuting), you are putting missionary work out of bounds. The problem then is that on saturday I'm supposed to spend my time with my family and they are all mormons. And on Sunday I spend my time with my family and at church, where everybody is a Mormon. So what you're saying to me is that except for those seven days every week, I can share the gospel with others. Do I have it right?"
"Exactly.That's the beauty of it!"
The author goes on
"...If the prohibition about talking about religion at work were a preference of exectutives, then different companies would have different views on it. And if the injunction against religious discussions were based in a worry that they would hurt employees' productivity, then discussions about other beliefs--like politics, ethnic differences, sports, and so on--would also be viewed as detracting from productivity in the workplaceThe fact that the prophiition applies only to religion, and that the ban on religious discussion seems to be in force at nearly every workplace, leads me to believe that this particular cultural belief is the work of Satan. i see no other plausible explanation.
"Why does it matter to Satan what we talk about when we're at work or school? It is a continued attack in the war that satan initated in heaven against God's plan of free agency.
..."far less that 10 percent of the saints of God are inviting their neighbors, classmates, and work colleagues to learn of the gospel of jesus Christ. People can't act for themselves if the latter-day Saints close their mouths, and this is exactly what Satan is acomplishing. This is a big deal."
Thought I'd share that. Something to think about. Satan tries to bind my tongue all the time as a missionary. But if I just be myself then the spirit will guide me if I just open my mouth. I think every member of the church should own and read this book.
well I best be get goin.
love,
Elder Soutas
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